It is easy to get caught up in today’s headlines. Politics dominates our television screens. Social media rewards outrage more than understanding. Sometimes it seems we spend more time talking about what is wrong than what is right.

Perhaps this Fourth of July — America’s 250th anniversary of independence — is a good time to pause and remember where we have been.

The United States was born in an act of courage. Fifty-six men put their names on the Declaration of Independence knowing they could lose everything if they failed. They believed there should be a nation where people governed themselves and where liberty was not granted by a king but recognized as a God-given right.

They were not perfect men and they did not create a perfect nation.

But they created something extraordinary.

Over the last 250 years, America has endured war, economic depression, political division, terrorism, natural disasters and a pandemic. We have made mistakes. We have had chapters we should never forget because they remind us how far we have come and how much work remains.

Yet through it all, the American experiment has endured.

That is worth celebrating.

Here in Appalachia, we know a thing or two about perseverance. Our people have weathered floods, mine closings, layoffs and hard economic times. We know what it is like to have to fight for our communities. And we know what it means to help a neighbor without expecting anything in return.

Every week, this newspaper tells stories about people making a difference. We cover volunteers raising money for children. Churches feeding families. Firefighters answering emergency calls in the middle of the night. Teachers going the extra mile for students. Veterans continuing to serve long after they hung up the uniform.

Every day, Americans go to work, raise their children, care for aging parents, volunteer in their communities and try to leave things a little better than they found them. They simply do what needs to be done.

That kind of determination has carried this country for 250 years.

As the fireworks light up the sky this Fourth of July, we have much to celebrate.

Importantly, we should also remember those who sacrificed to secure our independence, those who defended it through generations and those who continue to preserve it today.

May we never stop striving to become the nation our founders envisioned. And may we never forget how blessed we are to live in the land of the free.

Happy birthday, America.